Banks Agree To Choke Cannabis ClubsStop The Drug War/Denver Post | Submitted by: anonymous
"The last bank in Colorado to openly do business with the medical marijuana industry has announced that it will no longer do so. The banks have caved in to federal demands they do extra monitoring and reporting on their customers in the marijuana business, fearing the feds could have worse in mind for them than they've stated. Dispensaries throughout the state are preparing to go cash-only... "Any way you plan it out," one dispensary owner said, "there's going to be a large amount of cash around. And that's extremely scary."

Med Pot Patients Banned From Owning GunsDetroit Free Press | Submitted by: furpo
"Three major state appeals court decisions have gone against Michigan smokers in the last month. Now, federal authorities have issued an order that licensed medical-marijuana users nationwide can't possess a gun... The ban on gun use by medical-marijuana patients nationwide came in a U.S. Department of Justice letter sent Sept. 21 to state and county prosecutors across the country, which merely clarifies federal law that has been in effect since 1968... Meanwhile, a recent opinion by the state attorney general says that Michigan's medical-marijuana users can be evicted from their apartments at any time."

Et Tu, Pizza Guy?9News | Submitted by: spoodge
"After smoking a bowl, Smith ordered a pizza from Papa John's. Their meal was interrupted minutes later by what he describes as "a very loud banging" at the door. It was Aurora police. "A pizza guy had actually called in the complaint."

How Secret Kill Lists Are MadeReuters | Submitted by: anonymous
"American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials... There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate."

Bloomberg's Koch Expose LoomsBloomberg | Submitted by: anonymous
"A Bloomberg Markets investigation has found that Koch Industries -- in addition to being involved in improper payments to win business in Africa, India and the Middle East -- has sold millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran... Internal company documents show that the company made those sales through foreign subsidiaries, thwarting a U.S. trade ban. Koch Industries units have also rigged prices with competitors, lied to regulators and repeatedly run afoul of environmental regulations, resulting in five criminal convictions since 1999 in the U.S. and Canada and hundreds of millions of dollars in fines."

Haboob Descends Across ArizonaAZ Central | Submitted by: azdollarbill
"A long-term drought and powerful winds from a Pacific low-pressure system sent large amounts of dust into the air that contributed to at least three serious collisions that left one person dead and at least six in critical condition on the highway between Phoenix and Tuscon... Visibility was so poor that the critically injured were driven instead of flown to the hospital. "The dust storms are the worst we've ever seen," he said. "The storm literally parked itself over the crash areas."

Everyone Deserves A Write-OffWKYT | Submitted by: furpo
"After several minutes I felt a give, and I said to myself, oh great, it's delivered," Bilotta said, "but unfortunately at that point the head is separated from the body. It was decapitation." Dr. Bilotta testified that he tried for almost an hour to deliver the child who was stuck in what he called Donelson's "incompetent cervix", meaning one that prevents normal delivery. "I've been delivering babies for almost 35 years. I've done over 6000 deliveries, and I've never had a decapitation."

Hump Day Dump DaySan Jose Mercury News | Submitted by: spooz
"A massive manhunt is under way this morning after an employee of a Cupertino quarry walked into an early morning meeting and opened fire, killing two and wounding six... The rampage started at 4:30 a.m. when an employee of the Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant walked into a safety meeting at the Lehigh and opened fire with a handgun and a rifle."

Former Model's Stomach Still GrowlingLos Angeles Times | Submitted by: greenpotatosoup
"Omaima Nelson has yet again been denied parole. In 1991 she killed and ate her husband: "In the fry cooker there sat Mr. Nelson's hands, and when we opened the refrigerator there was Mr. Nelson's head with stab wounds. She had his entrails in his Corvette, and she was trying to get an ex-boyfriend to yank out the dentures from the head so she could dump it in the Newport Beach Back Bay."

Suicide Ineptitude Brings Couple TogetherWire Services | Submitted by: wurp is gay
"Smeltzer came home to find his son dead, his daughter unconscious, and wifey with a rope around her neck preparing to hang herself.. At his point, he told police, he "lost his marbles," attacking Pappalardo with a flashlight. He said he then tried to kill himself by taking a mixture of drugs, but failed in the attempt."

The Annual Cheek-Piercing FestivalYahoo! Canada | Submitted by: ELF
"A devotee of the Chinese shrine of Sui Boon Tong Shrine, pierces his cheeks with skewers during a procession of Vegetarian Festival on October 5, 2011 in Phuket, Thailand... The festival begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts for nine days. Participants in the festival perform acts of body piercing as a means of shifting evil spirits from individuals onto themselves and bring the community good luck." [Photos]

Sleep Tight, Eddie MunsterScranton Times Tribune | Submitted by: azdollarbill
"The child told officers that his step father often locked him in the coffin in the basement, sometimes binding it shut with duct tape, sometimes holding it shut with a chair... At the base of a staircase leading to the locked basement door, officers also found a thick chain which the child explained his parents would shake and tell him the noise was the ghosts living in the basement... Inside the dark basement, officers found the coffin, a broken toilet swarming with flies and ticks and a "Camel Exotic Blends" light hanging over a bar in the basement, the only light source in the room."